West Palm Beach-based OmniAmerica _ which owns, manages and operates broadcast towers and wireless communication sites throughout the United States _ completed two acquisitions worth more than $50 million. The acquisitions will give the company towers and wireless communications sites in Miami, Orlando, Tampa, Dallas and Milwaukee. OmniAmerica acquired TowerCom of Jacksonville and Miller Transmission Tower Co. of New York.

Electric bicycles coming

Former Chrysler chief Lee Iacocca, who brought America the Ford Mustang and Chrysler K-car, returned to Detroit and announced plans to sell 50,000 electrically powered bicycles yearly starting late this summer. Iacocca and his EV Global Motors Co. also unveiled an alliance with Energy Conversion Devices., a Troy, Mich.-based advanced battery company now headed by former General Motors Chairman Robert Stempel. The former competitors said they see electric vehicles as the future of the auto industry.

Iacocca said California and Florida are the chief target markets for the battery-powered two-wheelers.

Merger ruling on hold

The European Commission won't rule on WorldCom's proposed acquisition of MCI Communications until early March, at which point it may extend its antitrust probe by another four months. The $41.8 billion acquisition, the largest in corporate history, can't go ahead without approval from both the commission and U.S. regulators.

WorldCom spokesman Mark Weeks said the merged company's share of the global Internet market, estimated at 60 percent, was the focus of the EU's antitrust concerns and that the commission had requested further information.

Illinois Central acquired

Canadian National Railway Co. agreed to buy Illinois Central Corp. for about $3 billion (U.S.) in cash, stock and assumed debt, extending the reach of Canada's largest railroad into the southern United States.

Montreal-based Canadian National said it will pay about $2.4 billion in cash and stock, or $39 for each Illinois Central share, 9.3 percent more than Illinois Central's closing price of $35.69.

The combined company would have 24,600 employees, annual revenue of $3.7 billion and be the fifth-largest North American railroad. It would have an unbroken link of track between Canada and the Gulf of Mexico and be well-placed to handle shipping stimulated by NAFTA, analysts said.

Minority lending to rise

The Small Business Administration plans to double its lending to black-owned businesses nationwide during the next three years. Vice President Al Gore joined SBA Administrator Aida Alvarez to announce the federal agency's new outreach program to small businesses.

The SBA's goal is to guarantee $588 million in loans to 3,900 black-owned companies nationwide during fiscal 2000. That would compare with $286 million to 1,903 businesses in fiscal 1997, which ended Sept. 30.